I Hate This Dress!

Sunday, August 26, 2012

in
No, I don't hate it.  My kid, however, does.  With a passion.


This is the absolutely darling Play Date pattern by Oliver + S.  Pretty much everything I sew is Oliver + S, so it's not really unexpected.

One of the smart sewists on the Oliver + S forum came up with the "Make It While It Fits" challenge to use all the un-used patterns in our stashes before the release of the new season's.  A great idea it was, so I jumped on the bandwagon.  I still have several patterns that I haven't used, and the Play Date pattern only goes to a 3T, so this was the first one I attempted.

I chose some Eleanor Grosch fabric from Free Spirit (conveniently located in my shop! - www.the-fabric-stash.com).  I have some really cute turquoise shoes in my eBay wish list in preparation for this outfit.  I used Kaffe Fasset shot cotton for the piping and the hem facing.  I reviewed every single photo of the play date dress in the flickr group before doing this pattern.

I got the idea to do embroidery on the yoke instead of buttons or ruffles.  I tried a couple of patterns that didn't work for me.  Sometimes it's harder than it looks to choose the right embroidery pattern to match the fabric.
The pattern is of course extremely well thought out and well written.  There was one spot finishing up the back seam of the yoke where I had to really ponder how it was going to go together, but once I actually read the instructions rather than just look at the pictures, it ended up perfect.

I had tried the dress on Julia a couple of times while I was putting it together.  I wanted to make sure it fit over her head, and wanted to check the fit.  For some reason, that made her hate the dress.  I think she could use a size 4 in this pattern as well, so maybe it fit tighter than her usual dress.  I really can't figure out a two year old psyche.

I made this over Saturday and Sunday, maybe about 4 hours total.  It went together very well, and when it was completed, I made the suggestion to my child that she put on the dress, and we go across the street to the beach and take some photos.  ABSOLUTE MELT DOWN.  Screaming.  Yikes.  It is amazing how passionately she feels about things.

Once she calmed down and became a human being again, she agreed to wear the dress, briefly, in her sister's bedroom only.  I did get some fairly good modeled photos after all:


What a silly kid.....I'm hoping that if I put this hanging in her closet for a while, she'll change her mind....otherwise, I'll be looking for a size 3 kid with the first initial "J" to hand this down to!

6 comments:

  1. It is beautiful. I like the embroidered tree, too. Your sewing looks so clean and perfect. I can't believe you finished it in 4 hours. I like the fabric and the colors- teal and orange is a pretty combination. I bet your daughter will like the dress today. Sometimes my daughter hates trying stuff on. I try to bribe her with a chocolate kiss.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jennifer! I am going to give it about a month, then try it again...maybe when we get her new teal shoes...

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  2. Love this dress (and the embroidery is amazing)!
    This is one of my favorite O+S dress patterns - You did an amazing job (4 hours, wow!).
    Hope she'll come around - she looks so cosy in it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the dress and the embroidery. My daughter isn't always in to trying stuff on - she is only 1 1/2. My 3 year old son loves to try on but I don't make as much for him. Poor boy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Christine....you should try some of the Oliver + S boys patterns - they have some really nice ones. When my boys were younger, I used a lot of Kwik Sew patterns to make things for them. Truthfully, it's more fun to sew for the girls....

      Delete